Three’s a Crowd

A group of elephant, but with a little story that isn’t immediately apparent.

This is a huge, mature breeding bull. African Elephants come into breeding in their late twenties or early thirties. This one is probably between thirty and thirty-five years old and is in its full breeding prime. The female next to it looks tiny and almost juvenile in comparison, but this is only because of his impressive size. She is in fact a mature female elephant with whom he is interested in mating. She’s well aware of him and his intentions, but the other little female elephant, that is probably hers from a couple of years ago, is interfering. She’s also buzzing around excitedly wanting to know what’s going on, but is actually just getting in the way.

I didn’t paint this scene because of what is happening. It is more the massive size of the male elephant, his interaction with these two smaller elephants and the resulting buzz that interests me.